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Autistic individuals and kink/BDSM practitioners experience stigmatization. Applying intersectionality and minority stress theory, we hypothesize autistic kink/BDSM practitioners experience compounded marginalization. Emerging research highlights potential benefits, prompting this study to explore the experiences, motivations, education, and challenges of 39 autistic kink/BDSM practitioners using a participatory, survey-based approach. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings reveal diverse engagement in kink/BDSM and benefits of participation included clear communication, relief from executive function pressures, and safe communities that allowed unmasking and affirmed identities, sensory preferences, and emotional needs. Participants reported discrepancies between received and desired education and challenges identifying affirming professionals.
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García et al. (2025) studied this question.
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